Clipped Wings
by TheClockworkDomme
Summary: *Spoiler alert!* This is the story of a young mage who goes by the name of Anette Amell. It is a tale of the tragedy that flows through her veins. Rated M for swearing, violence, gore and possible smut in later chapters. Enjoy!
1. Trouble Brewing

**Clipped Wings**

Hey guys^^

This is my first fan fic, like, ever so I apologise if it is lacking in quality. This is a DragonAge fan fic, this is how I interpreted the story. Some parts are different than what they are in the game, but there are spoilers in this fan fic nonetheless so you have been warned. May contain fowl language and the occasional bit of gore. Enjoy!

''_Mamma?'' whimpered the girl in the wrought iron cage, 'I'm scared.'' The woman who at this point was perched next to the girl in the cage beside her threw her arms through the cold, metallic barrier and she then wrapped them around her daughter, drawing her as close as the bars would allow. ''It's going to be alright'', whispered the mother in a desperate attempt to comfort not only her four year old daughter, but in an attempt to try to calm herself. She never thought that it would end like this; she never thought that her own daughter would have to bear witness to her brutal demise, but here she was. She could only hope that her daughter would be spared from harm by her captors and her betrayers. The sensation of her daughter's light breathing forced a tear out of hiding. It was then that the door to the room that they were in swung open with a thunderous slam. It was if hells doors had just opened. A woman with hair as white as pure winters snow and a contrastingly youthful, sour face and two tanks of men came storming into the room. ''Why hello there Matilta.'' Purred the white haired woman with a smile of pure poison. ''And how are we feeling today?'' The mother looked up at the woman, cursed and then spat at her, 'Get away from me'' she shrieked. The woman smirked at the mother as she heard this and then ordered her lackeys to open the young girl's cage. Before the mother knew it, she could see her daughter being dragged towards a furnace in the room. She begged and begged for them to stop, but it was no use. It was then that she decided to use her magic, god forbid she had promised to never use it again but this she thought was a dire situation. After a few seconds, the cage's padlock had been telepathically thrown off of the hinge and on to the ground. It was hot to the touch. The mother threw open the cage door and practically hurled her towards the two men in a desperate bid for her daughter's safety; she was like a pouncing tiger. She threw a bolt of lightning towards the soldier's faces, paralysing them both momentarily, and she then pulled her precious child from the monstrous grasp of the men. She tensed her shoulders and turned to the white haired woman only to be met by a foot. She was thrown back with a tremendous force into an intense heat. It was then that she realised that the furnace door had been left open. She caught a glimpse of her child's horrified face as she jolted upright. She reached her arm towards her child, but as she done so, a stone door was thrown in her face. It was then that the screams began._

_Anette Amell awoke from her nightmare with a gasp. ''Oh maker, why do you always decide to show _me _that_?'' she whispered with her head tilted towards the ceiling. She cupped her face in her hands and sighed. She peered across the apprentice dorm room to notice that most of her fellow apprentices were awake, and huddled into a corner- gossiping. Anette trudged out of her bed and wandered over innocently toward the pack of cackling Hyenas, for as you see-listening in on the conversations of others was something that she classed as a hobby. She grabbed a nearby tome named 'Entropy-a beginners guide', sat down near enough to the women to hear their voices, but far away enough so as not to arouse their suspicion and she began to feign the act of reading. After about ten minutes of drabble, Anette began to sink deeper and deeper into the dark, bottomless abyss of boredom, there was nothing that to her seemed interesting of exciting. She began to ponder what life outside this god-forsaken spire was like nowadays, she wondered what other people her age would be doing, she wondered what it would feel like to have an ice cold wind blowing on her face for she couldn't even remember how it felt- a few years in the circle tower does that to you, you see. Just as she was beginning to fall into a deep state of contemplation, the door to the female dorms flew open and a meek, timid 'boy' came jogging in. 'Anette!'' he shouted across the dorms as he nervously twiddled his thumbs. Anette looked up from the book to see her friend and partner-in-crime, Jowan screaming the place down. She rubbed her eyes and paced towards him. 'Will you stop screaming goddamit?'' she groaned as she walked towards Jowan, ''Do you have any idea what time this is!'' ''I'm sorry Anette.'' He mumbled. 'But I really need your help with something-urgently.'' Anette raised an eyebrow, but she knew Jowan well enough to know that anything along the lines of what he had just said translated to 'Hey Anette, guess what? I've fucked up a spell and now it's trying to bite me and if the templars find out they'll bite me'', or something like that. She grimaced and agreed to help him, for he was her best friend after all.

She rushed back to her bedside to retrieve her staff. Her staff was different to most o the other ones that were paraded through the tower; she brought it with her to the tower from the place she once called home. It was hr mothers and it was the only thing left of her. It was a retractable scythe like staff which was crafted from silverite and it was at least a head or two longer than she was, and it had two elegant-looking blades attached to one end, one blade being larger than the other. It certainatley gave the templars and their weapons a run for their money. At times she wondered why she was even allowed to keep it as even without its magic, it was a formidable weapon and everyone in the circle knew that she was skilled at wielding it. She grabbed the leather garter which she usually concealed it in and wrapped it around her thigh; she allowed the material of her slip hide both the garter and her staff. She rushed back to Jowan and told him that she was ready. He responded by reminding her that she was still wearing her sleeping clothes and that he didn't want to hear the templars rant on about how she shouldn't prance around the tower in her underwear. She responded by stating that it's better than wearing nothing, which silenced him. The two paced down the spiralling hallway, receiving many strange looks as they went. Anette could almost feel the burning gaze of the templars on the back of her neck as they walked. They passed a templar who went by the name of Cullen; he seemed to have a hard time focusing as Anette walked past him-which of course was pointed out to her by Jowan. They eventually came to the male dorm rooms, Jowan looked around him in a nervous manner for templars or anyone that would reprimand him. Once he had confirmed that the coast was clear, he opened the door. That was when the chaos was revealed.

The men had confined themselves to the bathing area and had erected a barrier of beds, tables and chairs and they weren't exactly pleased to see who Jowan had dragged to the rescue. ''You brought her?'' she heard one of them exclaim, ''She's worse than that thing over there!'' muttered another. Although not all of the comments were negative, some were suggestive, some were even pleasant, but most were along the lines of 'Can you please just kill that bloody thing?' Anette looked across the room and could see what was causing the fully grown men behind her to cower in fear. A huge arachnid skeleton, wrapped in a black, mist like substance was glaring at her from across the room. It shrieked at her, and began to advance. Anette reached to her garter and pulled out her staff, which at this point was retracted and looked like a plain, metal tube. She pushed down on a part of the tube and swung it towards the creature, with this, it extended to its full size and monstrosity. She pointed the staff towards the charging creature and focused. The next thing she knew, the beast was knocked over and stunned, she swung at the creature with as much force as she could muster and '_splat'_, the beast's heat parted with its body and flew across the room, leaving a trail of crimson in its midst. How it could bleed was beyond Anette, but the thing that she wondered the most was how it managed o get there in the first place. She turned to Jowan and asked him about the creature's origins, much to her surprise; it was him who had summoned it. ''I didn't mean for this to happen!'' he whined as he timidly began to twiddle his thumbs, ''This was all an accident, I swear!'' ''You idiot...'' she grimaced. ''How did it happen? You can't even tell the difference between the top and the hilt of a staff and yet you manage to summon that...Thing! What did you do?'' Jowan could see the frustration in his friends eyes, and was taken aback by it. ''I honestly didn't mean harm, I found a strange book in the library and I read it, there were some spells in the book that I've never heard of before, curiosity got the better of me and I tried a few of them, I know it was stupid, but I can't go back to change the past. What's done is done. He sighed. ''I'm sorry, honest! ''Whined Jowan. Anette could feel herself beginning to boil over and she could explode she was that angry, but the presence of others in the room was what restrained her from kicking Jowan out of a nearby window. The sound of the dorm door opening was what made Anette's mind think about other things. Knight- Commander Greigor, Cullen and two other templars marched into the room. The Knight –Commander looked around the room; his eyes almost immediately met the bloodied spider skeleton in the corner, his eyes then met the blood-splattered, scythe-brandishing female who was standing in the middle of the room. He also noticed the terrified mages hiding behind an odd-looking barrier. ''Ah Amell, terrorising your fellow mages in your undies I see.'' He sighed. This was enough t cause Cullen's face to chance from blush-pink to bright red, to cause Jowan to mutter the words 'Oh no...'' and to cause Anette to revolt. ''At least I'm wearing something...' she smirked as she began to chuckle malevolently. At this point, Cullens face was like a tomato and it was a wonder that steam wasn't blowing out of his ears. ''So what happened here?'' he grouned. Anette was silent for a few seconds, looking at the face of her friend, then she began to chirp,''A little beastie got in the dorms, I killed it.''. She pointed to the remains of the creature from before. Greigor scowled. ''Anyway'' he said as he applied emphasis to the word, ''Amell, bid farewell to your friends. It's time for your Harrowing.''


	2. It's harrowing

**Clipped Wings**

Anette followed the templars up the many flights of stairs, catching glimpses of the worried faces of her fellow mages. The tower seemed to get colder ad they went further up. After at least fifteen minutes of climbing, the group came to the spire's top floor, the Harrowing level as many called it. Anette assumed that the reason that it was situated at the top of the tower was that if ever an abomination managed to escape the Harrowing Chamber, it would have a hard time trying to escape the tower and it would more than likely be killed soon after its escape-it was one of the templars' many lines of defence. That and the fact that up on the top floor of the Mage's Keep, no-one could hear you scream. The Harrowing was kept as a well guarded secret from the apprentices by both mages and templars alike, ''I wonder why that is?'' she found herself asking her subconscious mind. Greigor swung open the chamber doors and staggered into the chamber. Anette followed, unsure of whether or not now was the time to run. She told herself to stop being such a coward and carried on walking forward. The doors of the hallowed chamber closed behind her with a loud, scraping sound, which made Anette shudder as it was not a particularly pleasant sound. She looked around her, the walls were elaborately decorated with finely made tapestries and statuettes stood proud in their positions. The floor was of marble and in the middle of the room was a circular pedestal with an alter placed in the middle of the circle. There were carpeted steps carved into the pedestal which led up to the altar. Sitting on the altar was a golden basin, it was very simple in design, but was as the same time very beautiful. All in all, the Harrowing Camber was very grand, something that on Anette's behalf was very much unexpected.

She stared across the room to see a familiar, friendly face, the face of The First Enchanter Irving. Irving was to her, the closest thing that she had ever had to a father. Her circumstances were highly unusual and mostly unheard of in the Circle of Magi as rather than being assigned to the least busy Senior Enchanter the templars could find, she had been taken under the wing of the First Enchanter and several of the more skilled members of the group of Senior Enchanters. She had shown signs of high magical prowess from a very young age, and also could tell the difference between the hilt and the 'pointy end' of a sword which always did come in handy. Her powers had all of her fellow mages both envious and baffled at her skill and this attracted the interest of many a lecturer. ''Ah, we have been expecting you Miss Amell'' said Irving in his usual kind and approachable tone. He smiled and began to fill me in on the gruesome details of the Harrowing and told me why the Harrowing was as much of a secret as it is, he said it was something to do with the fact that in the apprentices knowing about the Harrowing, most would be turning to the Rite of Tranquillity out of fear. Of course, Greigor couldn't resist the temptation of throwing in a reminder of what happens to mages that as he decides to put it 'Decide to run away with their little demon friends and suddenly turn into Abominations.'' Greigor stepped a few feet closer towards Anette and chuckled, ''You know Anette, if you do end up becoming a demon, I'll be able to get you back for all of Jowan and your diabolical schemes and all of the times that you tried to kick my men out of the windows...'' ''They had it coming.'' She stated.'' Don't worry Greigor, if a demon tries to tempt me, I'll punch it in the face and imagine that it is you. Don't worry too much about me, Greigor.'' She smirked. The Knight Commander grimaced at this comment; he looked across the room at the First Enchanter and allowed his eyes to meet his amd nodded. Anette was led towards a basin of pure, liquid Lyrium and was soon engulfed in a glowing blue mist. After a few moments, the mist had been drawn into the young mageling's body and she then fell to the stone cold marble floor. The Harrowing had begun.

Cullen watched in horror as his mageling lay motionless on the marble floor. He knew that he couldn't venture near her, let alone pick her up off of the cold stone floor. This was his first Harrowing, when he first discovered that he was to sit through a Harrowing the news had made him sick to the stomach, but when he found out that the one that he was to sit through was going to be hers, it broke his heart. One part of him was sure that Greigor meant nothing by this, but the other part thought that this was all part of some kind of test to see if he was dedicated to his duties. The thought of striking her down was too much for him to bear. The thought of him plunging his sword through her chest and the image his hands and face covered in blood-_her_ blood nonetheless brought a tear to his eye every time it entered his mind. Her skin looked paler than usual and her lips, which were also usually very pale, looked dark in contrast with her skin. About half an hour into the Harrowing, cuts and gashes began to show on her skin and a small trickle of blood ran from her nose and down her neck.

Another two hours had passed; everyone in the room was growing apprehensive and Cullen feared for the worst. Everyone in the room was silent, and had been for quite some time. Cullen thought about what Anette would be like as an Abomination. He was sure that she would be just as beautiful as she has before, but she wouldn't be the same. Her sweet, but at times frightening personality would be replaced with evil and the thought mage him shudder, but strangely enough, it also turned him on. With this thought, he made a mental note to re-read the Chant of Light and his vows. It was then that the atmosphere in the room changed, and the silence was broken. The air in the room was getting warmer and thanks to his templar abilities, he could tell that the veil was no longer being torn. ''It's over, she has passed the Harrowing.'' Cooed the First Enchanter, '' I told you not to worry about her Greigor.'' The Knight Commander frowned at this and sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, everybody knew that deep down; Greigor liked Anette more than he said he did. It was almost like the bond between a school's headmaster and a naughty pupil. Cullen had to refrain from laughing at this thought.

He was commanded by the Knight Commander to carry her to the Circle Infirmary to have her wounds healed, and to return her to the apprentice dorms. He received many looks as he walked many of the younger, inexperienced mages saw the blood and cuts on her face and automatically turned to look for traces of blood on the sword which was being carried on his back. The older and more accomplished mages only had to take a quick glance at her body to guess what had happened, he swore that a few even said the word 'Harrowing'' to him as he passed. At times like these, mages terrified him.

He wandered to the infirmary; the nurse healed her without too much fuss. He climbed up a few flights of stairs and he then walked down a long, spiralling hallway. He eventually came to the Apprentice dormitory .As he entered the dormitory, he noticed a young man nervously pacing a space in the room; his dark hair concealed the worry which crossed his round, hazel eyes. The sound of his heavy, iron-plated boots clanking on the ground as he walked caused the boy to jump and to snap out of his almost trance-like state. His eyes fell upon the mage that he was carrying in his arms, Cullen was sure that he recognised the boy. This was the boy who always followed Anette around the tower, like frightened chick following its mother. ''I-is she o-o-okay?'' he stammered. Cullen turned to face the boy and gave a weak smile, ''Yes, she passed.'' A sigh of relief escaped his lips. Culled carried her towards her bed, which was pointed out to him by the boy. He rested her down onto the cold, hard mattress and left her. As he walked out of the room, he whispered the words, ''Look after her'' to the boy. It was then that his worry began to sink in to his mind.

''Anette? Anette?'' Sounded a worried voice from above her, ''You're awake, are you okay?'' She slowly opened her eyes to be greeted to reality by a familiar face. ''Jowan?'' she groaned, ''is this real?'' ''Yes, this is all real. How do you feel?'' he asked. He seemed to be genuinely worried. Anette sat up in her bed and turned to face him. She groaned and said, 'I feel terrible.'' She rose to her feet and stretched her arms and back, '' How long have I been unconscious?'' she said as she realised how tight and how tense her limbs were. Jowan looked up and sniggered, ''About a day of two, give or take.'' Anette surprised by this and hacked off at the amount of time that she had lost shooed Jowan out of the female dorms so that she could get dressed, on his way out, he seemed to be racking his brain of something, ''Oh and by the way!'' he exclaimed, ''Irving wanted to see you as soon as you woke up in his office. It sounds urgent.'' With this, he almost skipped out of the room; it reminded Anette of a little girl with pigtails skipping down a sunlit path. She closed the door behind him and got herself washed, dressed and armed. She pinned her long, black hair into a neat and delicate bun and placed an ornate poison dart into the mass of hair, it looked just like an ordinary hairpin, which helped to disguise her beloved hidden weapon. She to the surprise of many of the mages and templars had an exquisite aim. After she done this, she exited the dorm-room and wandered up the spiral hallway.

She met Jowan outside of the library. He walked up to her and whispered, ''Can I ask you something?'' ''Of course, what is it?'' Anette enquired. She read the expression that currently rested upon his face and could tell that he was worried about something. 'When do you think my Harrowing will be?'' he murmured, I mean, you're a year younger than me and you're already a fully grown mage while I'm still can't even cast the spell that brought me here right!'' He looked down at the ground and looked up again, ''Do you think they're going to make me tranquil?'' Anette was taken aback by suck negative thoughts,'' Jowan, of course they won't, you're just being paranoid. You'll be taken for your Harrowing when you're ready.'' She reassured. She winked and tittered,'' And besides, I don't think they can make you tranquil just because you can't tell one end of a staff from another of if you can't cast a spell without setting you're hair on fire...'' Jowan frowned, but sniggered nonetheless. ''What is the Harrowing like?'' he asked. Anette began to chuckle, ''What can I say? It's harrowing...'' And with that, she carried on walking.


End file.
